Locals fear it is nothing more than an exhorbitant 'image project' and that taxpayers will eventually be forced to pay for it

The Tongren municipal government in the southwestern province of Guizhou, has responded to the public’s questioning of building a hyperloop track with an American developer, insisting that the project will not cause a debt burden, The Paper reported.

Last Thursday, California-based Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT), which plans to develop a transportation system based on the hyperloop concept envisioned by Elon Musk in 2013, signed a deal with Tongren city to build its first track in China.

However, the project has been repeatedly questioned by members of the public, as Tongren is located in Wuling Mountain, an area lacking economic development.

Some locals are afraid that it is nothing more than an “image project” and that politicians signed on to boost their political careers. They also fear that it will increase the local government’s debt burden and, in the end, have to be paid by taxpayers.

In response, the government emphasized it will establish a joint venture company in Tongren City with HTT with a 1:1 capital contribution ratio.

Also, the cost of such hyperloop track per kilometer is lower than that of the current high-speed rail, the government claimed.